Yippee, I'm Skinny; The Science Of The Marathon

I'VE GENTLY EASED MYSELF BACK ON THE ROADS and have managed to stick to my diet plan.
Result: Yesterday morning, I dipped under 150 pounds for the first time
in, I dunno, probably 15 years. That leaves me about 10 pounds heavier than my super-skinny but also quite-fast college weight. Anyway, I'm feeling good, and this afternoon I
headed over to the Rodale health club to try 4 x 1-mile on the
treadmill.

The workout went well. I averaged 7:15 per mile with about 3 minutes walking between the mile repeats. Since I haven't done any pace work at all for almost a month, I've gotta be pleased. Next week, after I return from the Chicago Marathon, I plan to do a few "crash workouts," including faster paced 800s, to see if I can get back where I wanted to be at this point in my training.

The rest of this week, I'll be attending the LaSalle
Bank Chicago Marathon, primarily the Science and Medicine of the
Marathon conference that runs for 4 days prior to the marathon. This is a 30th year anniversary
celebration of an incredible meeting that took place in the days prior
to the 1976 New York City Marathon. You might remember that race as the
first 5-borough marathon, to me the most significant event in the
history of the marathon, since it literally created the urban marathon
boom that has continued to this day. Without that 1976 New York City
event, there would be no Chicago Marathon (it started the very next
October), No London, no Berlin...and so on.

Everyone knows about
the first 5-boro New York City Marathon, but few know about the amazing
medical conference that was held beforehand. Somehow, the organizer,
Paul Milvy, realized the timing was right, got sponsorship from the New
York Academy of Sciences, and attracted a large, brilliant cast of
marathon/exercise researchers to present their work at the New York
meeting. Many of these researchers were largely unknown at the time,
but have become household (running household) names in the years since
1976, thanks to the huge increase in popularity of running since then.
A young journalist runner named Jim Fixx trolled the hallways of the
1976 meeting to gather info for his forthcoming book, The Complete Book Of Running, and
while there met the likes of David Costill, Ken Cooper, Jack Daniels,
George Sheehan, David Martin and Tim Noakes, to name just a very few.

Recently
I talked to a number of the researchers who made presentations in 1976,
and they all agreed on several key points. First, before attending the
meeting, they had no idea that there were so many other scientists
interested in the same subject as them. Second, the papers presented in
1976 were ground-breaking. And third, the book that resulted from the
meeting remains one of the most important marathon sportsmedicine books
ever published. Dave Costill told me he has referred to it more often
than any other. (I recently bought a used copy of the 1000+ page book
from an online book seller for $8.00; it was the best money I've ever
spent online. If you want to look for one, the book is called The
Marathon: Physiological, Medical, Epidemiological, and Psychological
Studies (The New York Academy of Sciences; Paul Milvy, editor).

Bill Roberts, longtime medical race director of the Twin Cities
Marathon, is organizer of this year's anniversary gathering, and he
knows the meeting will have a tough time living up to its predecessor.
That hasn't stopped him from putting together a worldclass conference
that includes the likes of Costill, Martin, and Noakes (all returning)
and many, many other young investigators, all tops in their fields. I'm
giving a "History of the Marathon" lecture to set the stage for all the
research that will follow. I'm looking forward to attending all the
sessions, and may briefly report on them here, if time allows.

By the way, if you're in the Chicago area, you can attend the
conference with a daily or weeklong pass. See the link above for all
details.

On Sunday morning, I'll be in the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon press room, following all the action from the big race along with a team of other RW Online staffers. You can catch our reports, including "near live" race updates as the marathon is in progress, at the Runner's World Online Special Chicago Section.

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